Jai Govinda is the founder of Mandala Arts and culture, and acted as its artistic managing director for 25 years. He has been a practitioner of bharata natyam for over 40 years. During that time period, his work as a dancer, teacher and choreographer has been acclaimed nationally and internationally. Jai Govinda began his dance training with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in Quebec City and Montreal under full scholarship. He then received his bharata natyam training from notable gurus: Shri US Krishna Rao and Smt Chandrabhaga Devi, Shri KJ Govindarajan, Smt Jamuna Krishnan and Dr Mamata N. Nakra. After his Ranga Pravesh in 1983, Jai Govinda performed extensively in Canada, India, USA and France.  Following his first performance in India in 1987, he received praises from dance critics and connoisseurs of the art form. One of those reviews by the then renowned dance critic Subbudhu called him “the Prince Charming of bharata natyam”. In 1986 and 1988, Jai Govinda did 2 Canadian tours with a live orchestra, with his guru KJ Govindarajan on nattuvangam. In 1991, he was the first Canadian to perform at the International Foreing Artists Festival in India. In 1994 he was invited to perform in Delhi for the Canada Team delegation accompanying the visit of Canada prime minister to India. He was invited to perform in B.C. on 3 different occasions, after which he established his dance academy in Vancouver with the assistance of Anusha Fernando and dance and Sanskrit scholar Dr. Mandakranta Bose, who created a course for him to teach bharata natyam as part of Continuing Education at UBC. Under the management of Mrs Barbara Clausen, he then created his non profit association, Mandala Arts and Culture where he conducted bharata natyam training under the Jai Govinda Dance Academy. Soon the Academy expanded and was recognized and supported by the Canada Arts Training Funds of Heritage Canada for its excellence in disseminating quality professional training in bharata natyam. 47 students have since graduated (arangetram) from the Academy, and many are continuing a career in dance, teaching, creating and performing. Jai Govinda also gave master classes, workshops,  residencies and lecture demos at: Ecole Nationale de Theatre du Canada, Ecole Nationale du Cirque/ Cirque du Soleil, Departement de la danse de l’ UQUAM, Department of contemporary dance/ Concordia University, Studio de Danse 303, Ecole de danse contemporaine de Montreal, Ecole de danse du Quebec, McGill University, Concordia University, Main Dance, Modus Operandi, SFU/ dance department,  UBC and the Dance Centre. For 8 years, Mandala also presented an abhinaya intensive with world renowned bharata natyam artist from Chennai, Smt Bragha Bessell.

Jai Govinda has helped and supported the growth and development of many young artists, and has collaborated with many local and international artists on productions such as:  Narcissus (commissioned by the Kalanidhi Fine Arts/ Toronto), Winds (Solo Dance Festival), Aum Namah Shivaya (commissioned by the Judith Marcuse’s “Kiss Project”, and selected to open “ Dancers for life” at the Vancouver Playhouse), The Blue God (premiered in Vancouver and performed for “The year of India” in Ottawa), Kama  (commissioned for the official opening of the Scotiabank Dance Centre), The Monk and the Courtesan (commissioned by EDAM), The temptations of Buddha (with original score by Vidyasagar Vankayala), and the Tales of the Ramayana (a collaboration with Vancouver Moving Theatre nominated for 6 Jessie Awards and 12 sold out shows). In partnership with the Dance Centre, Jai Govinda curated the first festival of Indian classical dance in B.C., “Gait to the spirit” for 5 consecutive years. Over the years of the pandemic, Mandala commissioned two new works by international bharata natyam artists: “Sannidhanam” by Rama Vaidyanathan and ensemble, and “Virodhabhasa” by Navia Natarajan. Mandala also presented a series of 4 bharata natyam performances on VIMEO by local dancers Kiruthika Rathanaswami, Malavika Santhosh, Grihalakshmi Soundarapandian and Shilpa Shankar, all choreographed by Jai Govinda. In 2019, Jai Govinda was invited by Rama Vaidyanathan to speak about his experience in teaching bharata natyam in Canada at the 39th Natya Kala Conference in Chennai/ India.

Jai Govinda is the recipient of the Dance Centre’s 2006 Isadora Award for excellence in teaching, and for his outstanding achievements in BC’s dance community. He is also the recipient of the Vancouver Mayor’s Arts Award 2014/ Honouree/ Dance, for leadership, innovation and support of the city’s cultural life over the course of his career. Jai Govinda studied carnatic music with various teachers including Mrs Champa Seshadri, and nattuvangam with KJ Govindarajan. He also studied for 2 years at the Actors Studio in Montreal, and fashion design at the Lasalle College. He has written a book on bharata natyam, “Simply Bharata Natyam”, to be released in the Spring of 2025.